Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with viral capsid proteins and assays for inhibitors of viral assembly, as an example.
Structurally, viruses typically comprise at least a viral genome encapsidated within a proteinaceous shell termed the capsid. During virus assembly, individual constituent capsid proteins of one or more kinds associate with the viral genome in a coordinate fashion and assemble into a three-dimensional nucleocapsid structure. The nucleocapsid may be naked as with the very simple polio viruses or may be enveloped by one or more membranes derived from the host cell as with herpes viruses. Virtually all phases of viral replication are dependant on the biochemical machinery of the infected host cell. As such, few chemotherapeutic agents are available that selectively affect viral replication without considerable host toxicity. What is needed is a system for the generation of new antiviral agents that target unique viral replication events. The need is particularly acute for those viruses that cannot be readily grown in cell culture and thus are not easily amenable to the development of antiviral agents that are both effective and host sparing.